Few Japanese words dominate otaku lingo as the word senpai. Senpai, also spelled as sempai, sometimes appears more as punctuation to speech than a proper honorific. It also has a distinctive submis…| Japan Powered
Japanese honorifics confuse us Westerners. The closest matches we have are Mr., Miss., and other addresses. Unlike English’s polite addresses, Japanese honorifics denote social standing and r…| Japan Powered
Waifuism is a fairly recent development in otaku culture. Google records the first significant appearance of the word waifu in November 2007 (Google Trends, n.d.). The oldest entry for mai waifu a…| Japan Powered
To answer the title’s question in two words: parasocial relationships. Okay, you can return to your regularly scheduled livestream! Parasocial relationships (PSR) are a common part of media c…| Japan Powered